Lady Violet Witherbottom

Unlike her husband, Lord Theodore, Lady Violet was not born into nobility. Quite on the contrary! Her parents were considered middle class - her father an academic who spent his time in between teaching history at the University and researching ancient cultures. Her mother was content to running their modest household and traveling with her husband when circumstances allowed. Tragically, Lady Violet’s parents perished in a steam train derailing when she was eight, leaving her to be raised by her uncle, an archaeologist. The two were quite nomadic, moving about the world on a whim, until she met Lord Witherbottom during his quest to unearth the Onyx Tablet.

They married immediately and moved back to Rossmore Estates, where she learned to lace up her plum bustle and move about the aristocratic circles with grace. Despite all the years among the noblemen and women, Lady Violet never quite shed her rather peculiar disposition, preferring to spend time with her friends plotting their next ingenious conspiracy (they were quite meddlesome in their children’s lives), than discussing Baroness Nickleby’s new leather waistcoat. It was during one of those teatime intrigues that the most deliciously fascinating plot came about, involving a young orphan and a sinister newspaper editor.....